said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too
many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest
Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own
hand hath saved me.”
God was not toying with Gideon. He was trying to help
Gideon. He was trying to help us. He was trying to get us
to understand something about ourselves and something
about Him. It is very unlikely that 32,000 could defeat
135,000. But if it were to happen, we could believe it, and
was His and not yours. He is doing this so that His glory
will be declared in your victory. Your inadequacies—like
Gideon’s—may be proof that God is indeed committed to
using you.
Of course, it’s one thing to believe that God will use
you, but it’s another to act on that belief. If we focus on
our inadequacies, we will become paralyzed with fear and
do nothing. This is what Gideon likely would have done if
the Lord had not encouraged him repeatedly to take the
next step. God had made great promises
to Gideon, but none of them would have
been realized if Gideon had not obeyed
and taken the next step. We must do the
same. We must turn our attention away
from our inadequacies and obey God
by taking the next step. We will become
discouraged and defeated if we try to do
the whole task at once. But we can make that phone call,
prepare that sermon, write that article. It is then that we
will see God take our meager 300 and do something with it.
“Your inadequacies—like Gideon’s—
may be proof that God is indeed
committed to using you.”
we would ever after honor the memory of those troops and
their general. Something similar could be said for 10,000
defeating 135,000. It is very unlikely, but if it happened,
we would celebrate for generations their bravery, their
skill, and their remarkable devotion. But 300? No. That is
beyond belief. If it should ever happen, it would have to
be God. Only God could achieve such a victory. And that’s
the point.
Your Story
It’s probably not hard to see parallels between Gideon’s
story and your own. Gideon watched helplessly as the
Midianites claimed field after field, harvest after harvest
from God’s people. You likewise have watched the world
claim young person after young person from our churches
and our communities. God called Gideon to do something
about these losses, but he felt inadequate and doubted that
he could succeed—despite God’s reassurances. You may
find yourself sensing God’s call to get involved in Christian
education, but your self-doubt keeps you from acting.
But consider that the parallels between your situation
and Gideon’s may go further. God whittled down Gideon’s
army—making him completely inadequate—not to destroy
him but rather to make the victory His kind of victory.
When you look at your own challenges—the things that
convince you not to engage in the task of Christian educa-
tion—consider that they may be God’s way of preparing
you for victory. He is preparing you to win the victory with
little means so that everyone will know that the victory
36
Making It Your Own
The real test of whether we have internalized a story in
Scripture is not if we can remember all the details. The real
test is whether we can use it—particularly in prayer. Do
you think you can use the story of Gideon in prayer for
the sake of your work in Christian education? Can you get
down on your face and pray like this: “O God, my doubts
and fears stand before me like thousands of Midianites. I
see so many young people falling prey to the lies of the
world. The world robs them of their faith and their love
for God. It strips their fields bare. And all I have are my
300! I have meager resources, little time. Oh, take my 300
and win the victory in the lives of young people. Give the
impossible victory. Use me. I will step out on faith for You.
Send the armies of Satan to flight, and get for Yourself great
glory and fame in the earth!”
Do you think God will answer a prayer like that? Try it
and see.
Dr. Bryan Smith has worked in Christian education for over
twenty years. He has been a classroom teacher as well as a
textbook author. Currently, he serves at BJU Press as the Bible
Integration Senior Manager. In this position, he assists authors
and teachers in the work of integrating faith and learning in the
classroom. Bryan holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament Interpretation.
He and his wife, Becky, have six children.